The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized Merck & Co’s antiviral pill for Covid-19, after giving the go-ahead to a similar treatment from Pfizer Inc a day earlier. Merck’s drug, molnupiravir, developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, was shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30% in a clinical […]
Day: December 24, 2021
Vaccine manufacturers AstraZeneca, Novavax have said that their shots offered protection against Omicron, as British data suggested it may result in proportionally fewer hospitalisations than the Delta coronavirus variant, supporting the conclusions reached in South Africa. On Thursday, AstraZeneca said, that a three-course dose of its Covid-19 vaccine offered protection […]
Written by Isabel Kershner There were only a few shopping days left until Christmas, but in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, most of the shops were shuttered. The owner of Santa Maria Souvenirs, David Joseph, a Palestinian Christian, glumly padlocked his storefront and said there was no point […]
Nations around the world are lurching into lockdown, steeling themselves for a brutal surge as the omicron variant spreads like wildfire. But in Dubai, Donna Sese is bracing for a very different surge: countless restaurant bookings and metre-long drink bills. “We’re back and busy like the way things used to […]
Elephants in Thailand wearing Santa hats and surgical masks passed out hand gel, face masks and balloons to students at a school’s annual Christmas party, a COVID-era twist on a 15-year tradition in the Buddhist majority country. “I’m so excited because an event like this only happens once a year […]
Thai authorities have seized crystal methamphetamine with a street value of almost $30 million stuffed inside boxing punch bags bound for Australia, officials said on Thursday. Customs officers inspected the shipment after growing suspicious of the Thai-made training equipment which is not in high demand in Australia, Thai and Australian […]
Deep in the desert of the United Arab Emirates, the moment that camel breeders had been waiting for arrived. Families hauled their camels through wind-carved sands. Servers poured tiny cups of Arabic coffee. Judges descended on desert lots. A single question loomed over the grandstand: Which camels were most beautiful? […]